The Kotaneelee Formation is a

stratigraphic unit A stratigraphic unit is a volume of rock of identifiable origin and relative age range that is defined by the distinctive and dominant, easily mapped and recognizable petrographic, lithologic or paleontologic features ( facies) that characteriz ...

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cre ...

age Age or AGE may refer to: Time and its effects * Age, the amount of time someone has been alive or something has existed ** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1 * Ageing or aging, the process of becoming older ...

in the

Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin The Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) underlies of Western Canada including southwestern Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan, Alberta, northeastern British Columbia and the southwest corner of the Northwest Territories. This vast sedimentary b ...

. It takes the name from the Kotaneelee River, and was first described in outcrop in the river valley by C.O. Hage in 1945.Hage, C.O., 1945. Geological reconnaissance along the lower Liard River, British Columbia, Yukon and Northwest Territories.

Geological Survey of Canada The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; , CGC) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the environment. A branch of the Earth Science ...

, Paper 45-22.

Lithology

The Kotaneelee Formation is composed of marine

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

, conglomerate.

Distribution

The Kotaneelee Formation has a thickness of to . It occurs in outcrop along the

Petitot River Petitot is a river in northern Alberta and British Columbia, as well as in southern Dehcho Region of the Northwest Territories, Northwest Territories of Canada. It is a tributary of the Liard River. Petitot River originates from Bistcho Lake ...

and

Liard River The Liard River of the Boreal forest of Canada, North American boreal forest flows through Yukon, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories, Canada. Rising in the Saint Cyr Range of the Pelly Mountains in southeastern Yukon, it flows sout ...

valleys from the Beaver River to the Kotaneelee River mouth.

Relationship to other units

The Kotaneelee Formation is gradually overlain by the Wapiti Group and conformably overlays the Dunvegan Formation. It is equivalent to the

Wapiabi Formation The Alberta Group is a stratigraphic unit of Cenomanian to early Campanian Geochronology, age in the Lewis Overthrust, Lewis overthrust in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. It takes the name from the province of Alberta, and was first descr ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

References

{{Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, Liard_River=yes, Fort_Nelson=yes Geologic formations of British Columbia Geologic formations of the Northwest Territories Sandstone formations of Canada Shale formations of Canada Conglomerate formations of Canada